


One Moment, One Team

by deathboy-and-solace (LWritesx)



Series: I Think He Knows [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sports, Blood and Injury, First Meetings, Football | Soccer, Gen, Nosebleed, Team, tw: injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:28:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27008104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LWritesx/pseuds/deathboy-and-solace
Summary: Chiron blows the whistle to stop the game. Annabeth, together with Coach Hedge and Chiron, races onto the field, towards Percy."I saw him," Nico hears himself telling the referee, "I saw him push Percy."It's almost an out-of-body experience, watching them rush towards Percy, who's still face first on the grass."I've called an ambulance. Frank, Jason, help me with him," Hedge says."I'm a medic!" A voice behind them calls, "I have first-aid training! Let me through, I can help!"A blonde, decked out in a purple and orange cheer uniform, pushes his way into the circle they've made around their captain.***Or, the one where they play sports, percy gets hurt, and a cute blonde medic helps.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: I Think He Knows [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950229
Comments: 1
Kudos: 56
Collections: Solangelo Auctober 2020





	One Moment, One Team

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4:: Sports/Team
> 
> warnings:: tw for blood, sports- related injury

The stadium can't possibly hold any more people.

In the dressing room, Percy's knee bounces up and down wildly, which irritates Nico more than it should.

"Hey," Nico places his hand on Percy's knee, causing him to still.

"Sorry, dude," Percy grins sheepishly.

"You've got this. We're gonna go out there, and we're gonna give them hell, and we're gonna win, alright?" Nico says firmly, looking the captain of the soccer team in his eyes.

"Yeah," Percy breathes, "We are. Thanks, Nico."

_"Ladies and Gentlemen, give a warm welcome to our visiting team, The Olympians!"_

"Let's do this, boys!" Jason, one of their forwards, and chief team motivator calls, "Olympians on three! One!"

"Two!" Yells Frank.

"Three!" Yells Leo.

"Olympians!" The team cry echoes in the dressing room. Their teammates make a single file line and begin walking towards the exit leading up to the field.

Nico and Percy linger behind. Nico watches Percy put on his orange captain's band, sighing heavily at the sight of it as though it's more of a burden than an honour.

Which he supposes it was, if your entire future depended on if you were capable of leading your school's soccer team to victory.

Loud cheers rise from the bleachers, the audience almost vibrating with excitement as the team walks out. Nico pauses briefly, quickly crossing himself before stepping out onto the field.The marching band stands ready, waiting for the match to begin.

Nico sees Piper, Reyna and Rachel, smiling down at them. Hazel, with her purple jersey marked ' _ZHANG'_ , waves.

Annabeth, on the cheer team on the sidelines, gives them a wink and thumbs up.

The entire school population out there, supporting them.

The referee, one of Coach's old friends, stood in the middle of the field, between the two captains. He flips a coin, and the captain of the other team kicks it toward another member of his team. 

During the first half of the game, the Titans, their rival team, manage to hold onto possession of the ball. They narrowly miss scoring any goals because of the effectiveness of the Olympians' fancy footwork and clever strategies. Nico can see the frustration manifesting on the captain's face, as well as some of the players.

"Perce," he runs alongside his captain, "Be careful. These guys look like they're gonna get aggressive."

"It's okay," Percy says, "I've played games where Chiron was referee before. He's fair. If they get aggressive, he'll penalize them."

They finally manage to take possession of the ball when he and Jason corner a member of the other side's team, grazing the edge of the white line on the field. Jason barely manages not to kick the ball offside. When Nico turns, he spots an opening across the field, in the form of Leo Valdez.

Jason makes eye contact with him, both of them having the same plan. Jason passes the ball to Nico, and he runs down the field, passing the ball towards Frank. They run parallel to each other, passing the ball back and forth between them to avoid losing it. 

Once they're on the Titans' side of the field, Frank passes the ball towards Leo. The pass goes smoothly. Leo, though he was scrawny and short, and looked as about unthreatening as a soccer player could be, shoots off like a bullet the moment the ball touches his feet. The Titans, stunned, could do nothing but watch in horror as he sped towards their goal post, not stopping once until he kicked the ball and, to the dismay of the goalkeeper, it entered the net.

Up in the bleachers, the audience erupted into screams and cheers. 

The Olympians congregate in the middle of the field, embracing Leo, ruffling his hair, patting his cheek, eyes wide with joy.

One of the linesmen brings out the scoreboard as it changed from 0-0, to 0-1.

The Titan's captain (Nico tries to recall his name. He thinks it starts with K, or something like that), glares at them when the match gets back on track

***

It happened in the second half, around the sixtieth minute. Two players from the other team rush Percy. One of them push him, and he falls face first onto the field. Nico hears a nauseating crunch. The Olympian crowd falls silent, some of them quietly gasping.

Chiron blows the whistle to stop the game. Annabeth, together with Coach Hedge and Chiron, races onto the field, towards Percy.

"I saw him," Nico hears himself telling the referee, "I saw him push Percy."

It's almost an out-of-body experience, watching them rush towards Percy, who's still face first on the grass.

"I'll call an ambulance. Frank, Jason, help me with him," Hedge says.

"I'm a medic!" A voice behind them calls, "I have first-aid training! Let me through, I can help!"

A blonde, decked out in a purple and orange cheer uniform, pushes his way into the circle they've made around their captain.

When they turn Percy over, his nose is red and swollen. Tendrils of blood leak down his nostrils, onto his purple jersey, and he blinks, disoriented. 

"Can I have a phone?" the blonde medic asks, sitting on the grass next to Percy.

Annabeth hands over her phone, and he switches the flashlight on, looking at Percy's eyes.

"Percy, can you hear me?" he asks, softly.

"Y-Yeah," Percy groans.

"Excellent. You guys, can we give him some space so that he can get his bearings?" Blondie glares, and everyone, except Nico, Annabeth and Coach Hedge, backs up.

Even though Nico knows now isn't the time, he can't help but notice the medic's bright blue eyes and the freckles on his tanned skin.

"Thank you," Blondie smiles, then focuses his attention on Percy, "My name's Will. Do you know where you are?"

"The soccer match at the stadium," Percy replies.

"Good. Can you tell me what date and year it is?" Will asks, "And can you tilt your head forward for me please?"

"Third October, 2020," Percy says, leaning forward.

"And who's the vice captain of your team?" Will questions further.

"Nico," Percy says, placing his hand on his head, "My head hurts. Too much noise."

"I know," Will says, in a soothing voice, "It's alright. Once the ambulance gets here, they'll give you something for it."

He tells Coach Hedge, "Okay, so. As far as I can tell, he's not concussed, but he shouldn't be back out on that field. Coach, do you have any gauze in your pack?"

"I'm supposed to," Coach says, rummaging around his fanny pack, until he finds it.

He hands it over to Will, who uses it to clean up the rest of Percy's injury, and to absorb the rest of the blood.

"Nico," Percy says, as Jason and Frank help him up, "Finish it."

He takes his band off his arm and passes it to Nico. He could see the disappointment in Percy's eyes as he takes the band, but pretends not to.

Even if they won the match, it wouldn't help Percy get a contract from a club, as he had to leave the field.

Chiron raises a red card toward the other side, and the player that pushed Percy gets escorted off the field.

As Frank and Jason help Percy back to the dressing room, Piper stands and cheers, "Percy! Percy!"

Soon enough, the entire Olympian crowd is standing in the bleachers. The drummers in the marching band beat the drums steadily as they cheer, "Percy! Percy!"

He gives the crowd a weak smile, waving as he exits the field.

Nico inhales deeply, and calls his team together. Leo places his hand on Nico's shoulder re-assuringly.

Chiron blows the whistle to resume the game a few minutes after.

***

They win the game, with two goals to spare, using the exact strategies he and Percy had painstakingly planned.

Two managers came his way, but he sent them in Percy's direction. Despite not being able to physically play, Percy did help them win the game, as well as all of their previous games. He deserved the offers more than Nico did.

To be honest, Nico wasn't even looking to turn playing soccer into a career. He played because he needed a break sometimes, and he was good at it.

He's so caught up in his thoughts that he walks right into the person in front of him.

"Ouff," he squeaks, losing his balance.

"Sorry, sorry," A soft voice says, a warm hand grasping his wrist to keep him from falling over, "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"It's fine," his vision clears quickly enough for him to see curly, golden-blonde hair. For a moment he thinks it's Jason, before the curly hair registers, "It's my fault."

"Oh, hey, you're the cheer team member slash medic from the match the other day," Nico says, mentally adding the word _"cute"_ before _cheer team member slash medic._

"Yeah," his blue eyes sparkle under the florescent hallway lights, "Will. You're Nico, right?"

"Yep," Nico says, popping the 'p'.

"Congrats on the game," he smiles, "How's Percy?"

"He's fine. They set his nose and told him he could be back out on the field as soon as the doctors clear him," Nico smiles back.

"Oh, that's good to hear," Will says.

"Thank you so much for your help, by the way," Nico says, gratefully.

"No problem," Will grins, "So, which way are you headed?"

"Lit," Nico responds, "Room 201."

"I'm heading to 204," Will's grin grows wider, "Do you mind if I walk you?"

Now _this,_ Nico thinks, could be the start of something interesting.


End file.
